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The  Lutherans  In  America 


Their  Heroic   Past  and  Their 
Promising   Future. 


BY  REV  J.  C.  KUNZMANN,  D.  D., 
SUPERINTENDENT  OF  MISSIONS. 


The  Heroic  Past 

and 

The  Promising  Future 

of  the 

Evan.  Lutheran  Church 

in  America* 


BY   REV.   J.   C.   KUNZMANN,   D.    D. 
SUPERINTENDENT  OF  MISSIONS. 


Church  Register  Company, 
Greensburg,    Pa. 
1906. 


THE    HEROIC    PAST    AND    PROMISING 

FUTURE   OF   THE   EVANGELICAL 

LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN 

AMERICA. 

And  thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee.     Deut.  8:12. 

The  capture  of  Constantinople  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  Byzantine  Empire  by  the  Turks  in 
1453  resulted  in  two  important  events : — the 
Reformation  and  the  Discovery  of  America. 

THE  REFORMATION.  The  persecuting 
Mohammedan  entered,  closed  the  Christian 
schools  and  drove  out  the  learned  professors. 
Europe  received  them,  and  everywhere  they 
aroused  the  spirit  of  investigation.  They  made 
the  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  manu- 
scripts of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  and  the  writings 
of  the  Church  Fathers,  by  means  of  the  printing 
press,  the  common  property  of  those  who  yearn- 
ed for  knowledge  and  panted  for  the  truth. 
Over  against  the  Roman  Church,  which  founded 
her  meritorious  wTorks  upon  the  saying  of  Mass- 
es, Pater  Nosters,  Ave  Marias  and  the  observance 
cf  the  canonical  hours,  penances,  fastings,  etc., 
Christian  Humanism  arose  and  asserted  that  the 
Church,  like  her  divine  Founder,  was  the  servant 
of  the  race  and  that  divine  service  consisted  in 
observing  both  tables  of  the  law.  The  great 
Prophet,  to  proclaim  the  old  and  ever  new 
message  of  the  Gospel,  was  born  at  Eisleben,  on 
the  10th  of  November,  1483.  At  the  University 
of  Erfurt,  "the  home  of  German  Humanism,"  he 


unconsciously  imbibed  its  principles  and  in  its 
library  found  the  Book  Divine,  which  moulded 
his  life.  In  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  the 
first  institution  established  in  Germany  without 
charter  from  the  Pope,  he  deepened  his  soul  life 
by  renewed  study  of  the  word.  By  his  visit  to 
Rome,  he  saw  Romanism  at  its  source,  and  climb- 
ing the  "Sancta  Scala"  there  flashed  into  his  soul, 
as  the  light  of  Heaven,  "The  just  shall  live  by 
faith."  He  sought  the  Lord  and  found  Him, 
and  in  Him  life  and  salvation.  Tetzel  came  with 
his  infamous  traffic.  The  souls  committed  to  his 
care  were  in  danger  of  being  misled.  On  the 
31st  of  October,  15 17,  he  nailed  his  95  Theses  to 
the  Church  door,  challenging  the  world  to  an 
open  discussion ;  and  to  his  surprise  the  Reforma- 
tion was  born.  He  had  become  the  champion 
and  leader  of  the  greatest  movement  of  modern 
times..  He  contended  against  Rome,  divorcing 
the  second  table  of  the  Decalogue  from  the  first, 
and  against  infidelity  divorcing  the  first  from  the 
second,  and  both  alike  observing  neither.  The 
Keynote  of  the  Reformation  was  principle  over 
against  prejudice,  truth  against  falsehood,  Chris- 
tian works  against  mere  humanitarianism,  and 
the  struggle  still  goes  on,  and  will  while  time 
lasts. 

THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA.— Ge- 
noa, one  of  the  leading  commercial  cities  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  had  been  allied  with  Constantinople 
in  commerce  with  the  East.  The  plundering 
T^rk  now  rendered  its  trade  unprofitable,  by 
robbing  its  caravans.  Christopher  Columbus, 
the  Genoese,  convinced  that  a     route     to     India 


f  :  '  ■ 


could  be  found  by  sailing  westward,  offered  his 
services  to  his  beloved  city.  He  goes  to  Lis- 
bon and  for  several  years  negotiates  with  King- 
John  II.  of  Portugal.  Disappointed,  he  seeks 
the  court  of  Spain ;  and  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
finally  fit  out  the  expedition.  On  the  12th  of 
October.  1492,  he  landed  on  San  Salvador,  one  of 
the  Bahama  Islands,  and  America,  destined  to 
play  an  important  part  in  the  Reformation  and 
the' world's  Christianization,  is  discovered.  Pope 
Alexander  VI,  by  "the  line  of  Demarcation,"  as- 
signs the  eastern  part  of  Brazil  to  Portugal  and 
the  vast  remainder  of  North  and  South  America 
and  the  isles  of  the  sea  to  Spain  in  1494. 

The  Reformation  and  the  Discovery  of  Amer- 
ica, act  and  react  in  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  good  of  the  race.     Luther,  the  hero  of 
one,  and  Columbus,  the  hero  of  the  other,  were 
cotemporaries.     When  the  one    was     born,     the 
other  was  at  Lisbon  pleading  his  cause  with  John 
II.  of  Portugal.     Luther  was  learning  lessons  at 
his  mother's  knees  and  laying  the  foundations  of 
his  education  in  the  school  at  Mansfield,  when 
Columbus  crossed  the  trackless  ocean  and  opened 
a  new  Continent.     During  the  third  voyage,  the 
15-year-old  son  of  the  miner,  first  left  the  par- 
ental roof  for  self  culture  at  Magdeburg  and  to 
develop  self-reliance  and  earn  his  bread  at  Eis- 
enach.    During  the  fourth  voyage  he  was  at  the 
University  at  Erfurt.     When  the  great  navigator 
died,  he  was  in  the  quiet  precincts  of  the  Mon- 
astery,  seeking  his   soul's   salvation  by  the  pre- 
scribed  svstem   of    work    righteousness.     When, 
on  the  1 8th  day  of  April,  1521,  Luther  appeared 
before   the   Emperor   at  Worms,   Cortez,   in   the 


8 


name  of  the  same  ruler,  seized  the  Capitol  of 
Montezuma  in  Mexico  and  Spain  made  its  first 
conquest  in  North  America. 

THE  MEETING  OF  OPPOSITE  FORCES. 
Roman  and  Protestant  civilization  meet,  preju- 
dice and  principle  confront  each  other.  Earthly 
power  and  pomp,  superstition  and  hoary  tradition 
on  the  throne  and  at  its  base  the  truth  of  heaven. 
Charles  V.,  King  of  Spain,  King  of  the  Nether- 
lands, Archduke  of  Austria,  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many and  ruler  of  North  and  South  America, 
and  the  isles  of  the  sea,  the  largest  territory  ever 
dominated  by  one  man,  sits  in  power  and  Luther 
stands  for  principle  and  conscience.  He  pleads 
for  righteousness  over  against  abuses  and 
wrongs,  and  for  freedom  from  all  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  tyranny.  He  cries  out  to  the  as- 
sembled dignitaries :  ''Let  us  beware  lest  the 
reign  of  our  young  and  much-to-be  praised  Em- 
ptor Charles,  on  whom  next  to  God  high  hopes 
have  been  set,  should  have  a  disastrous  and  fatal 
ending."  Here  the  great  battle  of  two  continents 
was  fought,  yea  of  all  continents.  Carlyle  says : 
"It  is  the  greatest  moment  in  modern  History: 
English  Puritanism,  England  and  its  Parliament, 
America,  and  the  vast  work  of  these  two  centu- 
ries lay  there :  had  Luther  in  that  moment  done 
other,  it  had  all  been  otherwise. *'  Says  Dr. 
Siess :  "When  Luther  stood  before  the  august 
Diet  of  Worms  on  trial  for  his  faith,  the  liberties 
of  the  world  trembled  in  his  lone  heart.  And 
vviien  he  lifted  up  his  hand  before  God,  in  the 
face  of  all  Europe's  potencies,  and  declared  in 
solemn  oath,  that,  unless  convinced  bv  clear  tes- 


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11 


timonies  of  Holy  Scripture  and  solid  reasons,  he 
could  not  and  would  not  retract,  modern  free- 
dom drew  its  first  breath,  and  independence  once 
more  began  to  pulsate  in  the  arteries  of  man." 

LUTHERAN  SETTLEMENTS.  Whilst 
Luther  laid  the  foundations  of  American  liberty, 
Lutherans  nobly  aided  in  rearing  its  super- 
structure. New  England  Puritanism  was  not 
the  only  factor  in  building  up  the  greatness  of 
our  Republic.  Free  Government  came  to  us  not 
from  England  nor  from  Massachusetts,  but 
from  the  forests  of  Germany  it  was  transplanted 
to  Great  Britain  and  thence  to  these  United 
States.  We  claim  a  birthright,  and  a  most  hon- 
orable one,  in  this  land.  The  late  Secretary  John 
Hay  said,  "Luther's  far-reaching  influence,  which 
is  today  felt  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
helped  to  people  our  Northern  Continent  with  the 
colonists  who  laid  the  foundation  of  its  future 
liberties  on  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  He  recom- 
mended the  oppressed  people  of  Europe  to  take 
the  teachers  of  their  choice,  and  with  the  Bible  in 
their  hands  to  follow  the  star  of  freedom  to  lands 
where  religious  liberty  could  find  a  home."  As 
early  as  the  year  1529,  while  Luther  was  still  liv- 
ing., a  company  of  his  followers  left  Augsburg, 
Germany,  and  settled  in  Venezuela.  In  the  col- 
ony founded  by  Admiral  Coligny  in  Florida  in 

1564,  there  were  Lutherans.  Trusting  them- 
selves to  the  promised  compassion  of  Melandez 
the  Spanish  General,  sent  to  "gibbet  and  behead 
all  protestants,"  they     were     slain     in     August, 

1565,  and  a  cross  was  erected  over  their  dead 
bodies  with  the  inscription :     "We  slew  you  not 


12 


as  Frenchmen,  but  as  Lutherans."  Thus  the 
first  martyr  blood  was  shed  on  American  soil.  In 
1623  Lutherans  from  Holland  began  to  settle  on 
Manhattan  Island.  In  1637  the  Swedish  Colony, 
the  only  Lutheran  Colony,  was  founded.  Hav- 
ing secured  the  cession  of  England's  rights  by 
reason  of  discovery,  they  purchased  from  the 
red  men  South  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  of  which 
Philadelphia  forms  a  part  and  the  state  of  Dela- 
ware. Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  Snow  King  of 
the  North,  as  he  came  down  to  preserve  religious 
liberty  to  Europe,  spoke  of  it  as  "The  Jewel  of 
My  Kingdom."  Three  principles  distinguish 
this  colony — first,  religious  tolerance,  second,  the 
honorable  treatment  and  evangelization  of  the 
Indian  and  third,  the  prohibition  of  slavery.  In 
every  one  of  these  particulars  this  colony  stands 
in  contrast  to  those  toward  the  North  and  toward 
the  South.  Even  the  Dutch  Reformed,  who  had 
persecuted  their  Lutheran  brethren  in  New  Am- 
sterdam, and  forced  their  pastor,  Rev.  Coetwa- 
ter,  to  leave  the  country,  were  unhindered  in  their 
worship  when  they  settled  in  their  midst.  They 
treated  the  aborigines  as  Brethren,  and  Ferris 
says  that  during  the  Swedish  occupation,  "not  a 
drop  of  Indian  blood  was  shed."  These  Luther- 
ans, who  had  preceded  William  Perm  by  more 
than  40  years,  and  who  had  won  the  confidence 
of  the  Indian,  were  pioneers  of  that  treaty,  con- 
cluded under  the  elm  of  Shakamaxon,,  which  has 
gained  a  world-wide  fame.  The  crack  of  the. 
slave  drivers'  lash  and  the  sigh  of  the  African 
slave  were  never  heard.  This  Lutheran  Colonv 
stands  out  pre-eminent  and  shines  brightest  and 
purest  among  the  constellations  of  this  western 


13 

land.  About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1700  the 
Germans  began  coming  in  large  numbers.  They 
settled  in  Nova  Scotia  and  in  Canada  and  from 
Waldboro,  Maine,  to  Savannah,  Georgia, 
throughout  the  territory  of  the  thirteen  colonies. 
In  the  Saltzburgers,  whose  solace  and  comfort 
was  the  word  of  God,  as  confessed  by  Luther, 
crussing  the  ocean  on  a  stormy  voyag-e,  John 
Weslev,  the  founder  of  Methodism,  beheld  a 
depth  of  piety  and  a  simple  faith  which  he  had 
not  yet  experienced,  and  afterwards  in  a  London 
prayer  meeting,  he  was  converted  by  the  reading 
of  the  Reformers'  preface  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  whilst  his  brother,  Charles,  was  brought 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  by  the  Reformer's 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  In  1742  Rev.  Henry 
Melchoir  Muhlenberg  came  to  organize  the  scat- 
tered forces  of  our  Church,  bearing  the  motto, 
"Ecclesia  Plantanda,"  the  Church  must  be  plant- 
ed. 

COLONIAL  PERIOD.  The  first  question  to 
be  decided  on  this  continent  was  whether  Roman- 
ism or  Protestantism  should  dominate.  Before 
1600  the  Spanish  had  already  settled  the  islands, 
Central  America,  a  large  portion  of  South  Amer- 
ica, and  Mexico,  California  and  Florida,  in  North 
America.  The  French  were  occupying  Nova 
Scotia,  Canada  and  the  Mississippi  valley.  The 
destruction  of  the  "Spanish  Armada"  in  1588, 
when  Roman  bigotry  attempted  to  crush  out 
Protestant  Liberty  in  Europe,  marks  the  begin- 
ning of  permanent  Protestant  Colonies  in  Amer- 
ica. Hence  Jamestown  was  settled  in  1607, 
Plvmouth  in  1620,  and  our  Lutheran  people  fol- 


14 


lowed  them  in  rapid  succession.  Rome  now  de- 
termined to  crush  out  Protestantism  in  America. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  earliest  French  colon- 
ists were  Hueguenots  and  came  over  under  the 
patronage  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  the  Author  of 
"The  Edict  of  Nantes."  When  Cardinal  Riche- 
lieu became  supreme  in  1627  and  the  company  of 
100  associates  was  chartered,  every  non-Catholic 
was  excluded  from  the  French  colonies,  Park- 
man  says  on  page  121,  "The  Struggle  for  a  Con- 
tinent," "If  instead  of  excluding  Huguenots, 
Prance  had  given  them  an  asylum  in  the  West 
and  left  them  there  to  work  out  their  own  desti- 
nies, Canada  would  never  have  become  a  British 
Province."  And  the  same  can  be  asserted  of 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Louisiana  Purchase. 
But  the  Jesuit  Priest  displaced  the  Huguenot 
Colonist  and  bigotry  and  cruelty  led  to  a  new  con- 
flict. They  inspired  those  Indian  massacres,  be- 
ginning in  1689  and  murdering  thousands  of  our 
Colonists  from  the  extreme  North  to  the  ex- 
treme South,  in  order  to  exterminate  the  Protest- 
ant religion.  Wars  followed  each  other  in  rapid 
succession.  When,  finally  they  erected  forts  at 
Niagara,  Detroit,  Erie,  Franklin,  and  Pittsburg, 
etc.,  etc.,  determined  to  hem  in  the  Colonists  be- 
yond the  crest  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and 
drive  them  into  the  ocean,  Gov.  Dinwiddie  sent 
Washington,  in  1753,  to  Ft.  Duquesne,  demand- 
ing of  them  to  vacate  the  Fort  and  stop  these  in- 
cursions ;  and,  on  being  refused,  war  was  declar- 
ed. 

In  this  final  contest  with  the  French,  the  Luth- 
erans bore  a  prominent  part.  Conrad  Weiser, 
the    wizard    of   Conestoga,    the   Lutheran    elder, 


15 


the  father-in-law  of  the  patriarch  Muhlenberg, 
was  the  Tndian  agent,  who,  more  than  any  other 
man,  held  the  six  nations  in  check  and  prevented 
the  French  from  securing  their  invaluable  assist- 
ance. We  would  not  deny  to  Sir  William  Johns- 
ton the  credit  of  influencing  the  Mohawk  tribe, 
but  it  was  Conrad  Weiser  who  treated  with  the 
rest  of  the  six  nations,  and  this  saved  our  cause. 
When  laid  to  rest  on  his  farm  at  Womelsdorf  the 
Indians  came  to  mourn  over  his  grave  for  years* 
saying:  "We  are  at  a  great  loss,  we  sit  in  dark- 
ness by  the  death  of  Conrad  Weiser;  since  his 
death  we  cannot  so  well  understand  each  other.'* 
The  German  "'Royal  American  Regiment"  under 
Colonel  Bonuet,  made  possible  the  relief  of  Ft. 
Pitt  redeemed  the  disastrous  defeat  of  General 
Braddock,  checked  Pontiac's  conspiracy  and  freed 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  from  Indian  warfare, 
It  was  with  Wolfe  at  the  storming  of  Quebec  in 
1757,  and  at  the  capture  of  HavannalTin  1762. 
The  treaty  of  the  following  year  ceded  Canada, 
Florida  and  all  the  territory 'east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi to  England.  Thus  was  Protestantism  sav- 
ed and  the  first  step  for  the  Protestantizing  of 
this  western  Continent  taken. 

REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD.  In  the  Rev- 
olutionary war  our  Lutherans  were  loyal  to  the 
cause  of  freedom.  The  Germans  were  ever  op- 
posed to  all  forms  of  tyranny.  The  appeal  of 
their  Philadelphia  Society  in  1775  aroused  their 
countrymen  throughout  the  Colonies.  The  mo- 
tion of  Richard  Henry  Lee  to  declare  "the  Unit- 
ed States  free  and  independent"  was  held  in  sus- 
pense because  the  Pennsylvania  delegation,  com- 


16 


posed  of  Quakers  and  allied  sectarians,  refused 
to  support  it,  and  would  have  doomed  it  to  defeat. 
Had  not  our  Pennsylvania  Germans,  the  major- 
ity of  whom  were  Lutherans,  rallied  their  forces 
to  the  Pennsylvania  convention  of  June  18th, 
1776,  and  cast  their  votes  in  its  favor,  the  Decla- 
ration of  independence  could  not  have  been  passed 
on  July  4  th,  1776. 

We  have  heard  of  Putman,  leaving  his  plow  in 
the  furrow  to  shoulder  his  musket,  but  we  have 
heard  little  of  Rev.  Peter  Muhlenberg,  who,  after 
preaching  to  his  people  in  Woodstock,  Va.,  said : 
"There  is  a  time  to  preach,  a  time  to  pray,  but 
there  is  a  time  to  fight,  and  that  time  is  now." 
Removing  his  gown  and  standing  in  military 
dress,  he  commanded  the  drums  to  beat,  enrolled 
300  of  his  congregation  and  served  as  Colonel 
under  Washington.  "He  saved  the  day  at  Bran- 
dywine  and  led  the  reinforcements  which  took  the 
last  of  the  British  works  at  Yorktown."  The 
first  to  reach  Boston  at  the  call  of  Congress  for 
the  relief  of  New  England  were  a  company  of 
Pennsylvania  Germans,  July  18th,  1775,  and  the 
first  from  the  South,  a  German  Company  from 
Frederick  County,  Virginia.  The  German  Fusi- 
leers,  the  oldest  military  organization  in  America, 
were  organized  in  1775,  in  St.  John's  Lutheran 
Church,  Charlestown,  S.  C,  whose  pastor,  Rev. 
Martin,  was  compelled  to  flee  and  have  his  prop- 
erty confiscated  because  he  refused  to  pray  for 
the  success  of  the  King's  cause.  They  did  vali- 
ant service  all  during  the  war.  Washington's 
mounted  body  guard  were  nearly  all  Germans. 
The  Germans  were  his  favorite  soldiers,  both  for 
their  bravery  and  accuracy  of  aim.     Their  sharp- 


■L 


ZION?S  CHURCH.  PHTLA.,  IN  WHICH  THE  SURRENDER 
OF  LORD  CORNWALLIS  AT  YORKTOWN  WAS  CELEBRAT- 
ED BY  CONGRESS,  THE  FUNERAL  SERVICES  OF  BENJA- 
MIN FRANKLIN  HELD  AND  THE  MEMORIAL  ORATION  ON 
THE  DEATH  OF  WASHINGTON,  THE  FIRST  PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  COMMANDER  OF  ITS  ARM- 
IBS  WAS  DELIVERED  IN  THE  PRESENCE  OF  CONGRESS 
AND  IN  WHOSE  SCHOOL  HOUSE  THE  PHILADELPHIA 
GERMAN  SOCIETY  WAS  ORGANIZED.  CONSECRATED  JUNE 
-25,   1769. 


19 


shooters  turned  the  tide  at  Saratoga  and  were 
Morgan's  stay  at  Cowpens.  Dr.  Bachman  says: 
"Those  who  ministered  at  the  altars  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church  during  that  trying  period,  with 
scarce  an  exception,  were  the  devoted  friends  of 
their  country."  And  what  was  true  of  the  min- 
istry was  equally  true  of  the  laity.  The  forges 
of  Berks  and  Lancaster  counties  furnished  the 
army  with  ball  and  cannon  whilst  their  farms 
and  mills  provided  them  with  flour,  and  Christo- 
pher Ludwig,  the  German  Lutheran  Baker,  fur- 
nished 135  pounds  of  bread  for  every  hundred 
pounds  of  flour.  He  was  Washington's  "honest 
friend,"  and  in  reply  to  the  committee  ready  to 
continue  the  arrangements  by  which  others  had 
gotten  rich  at  the  expense  of  the  Government, 
he  said:  "No,  Christopher  Ludwig  does  not 
wish  to  get  rich  by  the  war."  He  saved  the  pro- 
ject from  defeat  when,  at  a  public  meeting  called 
to  raise  money  for  the  army,  he  said:  "Mr. 
President,  I  am  only  a  poor  ginger-bread  baker, 
but  put  me  clown  for  200  pounds."  When  in  his 
old  days  a  life  of  Washington  was  offered  for 
purchase,  he  said :  "No :  I  am  traveling  fast  to 
meet  him.  I  shall  hear  all  about  it  from  his  own 
mouth."  Bancroft  says:  "The  Germans  who 
composed  a  large  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Penn- 
sylvania were  all  on  the  side  of  liberty."  And 
what  was  true  of  the  Pennsylvanians  was  true  of 
the  Germans  throughout  the  colonies.  When 
the  fortunes  of  war  had  reached  their  lowest  ebb, 
when  Gates  was  conspiring  with  a  weak  Con- 
gress to  supplant  Washington,  there  came  Baron 
Yon  Steuben,  born  of  Lutheran  parents  in  the 
Lutheran  City  of  Magdeburg,  the  veteran  of  the 


20 


seven-years'  war,  the  honored  member  of  the 
staff  of  Frederick  the  Great,  the  intimate  friend 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Knnze,  and  the  right  arm  of  Wash- 
ington. He  appeared  before  Congress,  assem- 
bled at  York,  on  February  5th,  1777,  and  offered 
his  services  with  no  stipulation  of  reward  beyond 
what  they  might  judge  proper  by  the  results 
achieved.  He  became  inspector,  drillmaster  and 
commander  of  the  field.  He  turned  a  fleeing 
mob  into  a  victorious  army.  He  commanded  a 
division  at  Yorktown.  His  "Rules  for  the  Or- 
der and  Discipline  of  the  Troops  of  the  United 
States"  created  our  National  army  and  forms  the 
basis  of  our  Military  tactics.  Rev.  F.  G.  Got- 
wald  says,  "After  Washington  and  Greene,  no 
one  stands  so  high,  judged  by  his  valuable  ser-. 
vices  rendered.  He  gave  efficiency  to  our  sol- 
diers, confidence  to  the  commander,  and  saved 
our  treasury  not  less  than  $600,000  by  his  honest 
system,  rigorously  enforced."  One  historian  de- 
clares :  "The  debt  of  gratitude  that  America 
owes  to  Steuben  is  one  that  can  never  be  fully 
discharged." 

In  answer  to  a  letter  of  the  German  Lutheran 
Congregation  of  Philadelphia,  congratulating 
him  upon  his  election  to  the  Presidency,  Wash- 
ington among  other  things  says,  "from  the  excel- 
lent character  for  diligence,  sobriety,  and  vir- 
tue which  the  Germans  in  general  who  are  set- 
tled in  America  have  ever  maintained,  I  cannot 
forbear  felicitating  myself  on  receiving  from  so 
respectable  a  number  of  them  such  strong  as- 
surances of  their  affection  for  my  person,  confi- 
dence in  my  integrity,  and  zeal  to  support  me  in 
my  endeavors  for  promoting  the  welfare  of  our 


21 


common  country.  Dr.  Schmauk,  on  page  29,  in 
"The  Lutherans  in  Pennsylvania,"  says :  "Wash- 
ington himself  recognized  a  bulwark  against  the 
incoming  waves  of  French  frivolity  and  rational- 
ism in  the  sober  orthodoxy  of  the  German  Luth- 
eran Church." 

FIRST     THINGS     AND     NOTEWORTHY 
FACTS. 

The  first  confession  of  faith,  adopted  on  this 
Continent,  was  the  unaltered  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion, by  the  German  Colony  in  1532,  in  Venezu- 
ela, who  had  emigrated  from  the  city  of  Augs- 
burg in  1529.  Historically  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  America  dates  but  two  years  after  that  of 
Germany. 

The  first  Protestant  Minister  buried  in  an 
American  grave  was  Rev.  Rasmus  Jensen,  the 
Lutheran  Pastor  of  Nova  Dana  on  the  Hud- 
son, who  died  Feb.  20th,  1620. 

The  first  colony  to  prohibit  the  instroduction 
of  slavery  was  the  Swedish  Lutheran  Colony, 
founded  in  1637.  And  had  the  genial  spirit  of 
Lutheranism  been  dominant  everywhere,  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  would  never  have 
been  required,  and  the  Civil  war  and  its  blood- 
shed would  have  been  forestalled. 

The  first  Lutheran  Church  was  erected  in  con- 
nection with  Fort  Christiania,  in  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  in  1638. 

The  first  Protestant  Missionary  to  the  Indians 
was  the  Lutheran  Rev.  John'Campanius,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in   1642. 

The  first  book  translated  into  the  Indian  lang- 
uage was  Luther's  Catechism,  in  1646. 


22 


'  The  first  man  ordained  to  the  Protestant  min- 
istry was  the  Lutheran  Rev.  Justius  Falkner,  in 
Gloria  Dei  Church,  Philadelphia,  November  24, 
1703. 

The  first  missionary  to  the  negro  slave  was 
Rev.  Christian  Fisher,  in  the  island  of  St. 
Thomas  in  171 3. 

The  first  orphanage  in  America  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Lutheran  Saltzburgers  in  Georgia  in 
1736.  This  and  its  model  in  Halle  inspired  the 
celebrated  Evangelist  George  Whitfield  to  like 
deeds  of  mercy. 

The  Lutherans  of  St.  Matthew's  Parish  sent 
their  delegation  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  held 
at  Savannah,  Georgia,  July  4th,  1 774,  to  con- 
sider action  with  reference  to  English  ag- 
gression, with  the  words:  "We  have  ex- 
perienced the  evils  of  tyranny  in  our  own  land ; 
for  the  sake  of  liberty  we  have  left  home,  lands, 
houses,  estates,  and  have  taken  refuge  in  the 
wilds  of  Georgia;  shall  we  now  submit  again  to 
bondage  ?     No,  never !" 

The  first  President  of  the  Philadelphia  German 
Society,  which  was  organized  in  the  Lutheran 
School  House,  Cherry  St.,  Philadelphia,  and  did 
so  much  for  freedom's  cause,  was  Peter  Muhlen- 
berg, a  Lutheran. 

The  sexton  who  rang  the  Liberty  Bell  on  July 
4th,  1776,  with  the  prophetic  inscription, 
"Proclaim  liberty  throughout  the  land  unto 
all  the  inhabitants  thereof,"  was  a  Lutheran. 

The  first  news  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence was  published  by  a  German  paper. 

The  first  American  flag  was  made  by  Betsy 
Ross,  a  descendant  on  the  Maternal  side  of  the 


£5 


Swedish  Lutherans. 

The  Stars  and  Stripes  were  first  unfurled 
amid  the  roar  of  artillery  and  the  smoke  of 
battle,  when  General  Herkimer  and  his  Mohawk 
Vallev  Germans,  at  Oriskany,  repulsed  the  Brit- 
ish and  their  devilish  Indian  allies,  after  what 
Fiske  calls  the  most  desperate  battle  of  the  Rev- 
olution. 

Revs.  Frederick  and  Earnest  Muhlenberg  were 
driven  from  their  Parishes  because  of  their  devo- 
tion to  the  colonies  when  the  British  army  occu- 
pied New  York  and  Philadelphia,  respectively, 
and  the  latter,  during  his  exile  in  the  country, 
began  those  botanical  investigations  which  have 
made  him  famous. 

The  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  at  York- 
town,  the  ending  of  the  conflict,  was  celebrated 
by  order  of  Congress  in  a  Philadelphia  Lutheran 
Church. 

Michael  Hillegas,  the  first  Treasurer  ot 
the  United  States,  had  a  Lutheran  mother. 

The  first  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, was  the  Lutheran,  Lion.  Frederick  A. 
Muhlenberg. 

The  funeral  services  in  connection  with  the 
burial  of  Benjamin  Franklin  were  conducted  in 
Zions   Lutheran     Church,     Philadelphia,     April 

•  79°- 

It  was  in  a  Lutheran  Church  that  Major  Gen- 
eral Lee,  by  resolution  of  Congress,  Decem- 
ber 26,  1799,  delivered  the  funeral  oration  in 
honor  of  the  memory  of  George  Washington, 
first  President  of  the'  United  States,  and  Com- 
riander  of  its  armies. 

The  first  Protestant  Deaconess  of  America  was 


26 


Consecrated  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  A.  Passavant, 
the  great   Lutheran     Philanthropist,     in      1852. 

John  Peter  Zueger  was  "the  father  of  that  bul- 
wark of  American  liberty,  the  freedom  of  the 
press." 

Rev.  John  Bachman,  D.  D.  LLD.,  the  learned 
pieacher  and  faithful  Pastor  of  St.  John's 
Church,  Charleston,  S.  C,  was  the  modest  schol- 
ar who  wrote  the  text  for  Audubon's  "The  Quad- 
rupeds," and  the  "Birds  of  America,"  and  his 
sister,  Maria  painted  the  pictures. 

Cyrus  Townsend  Bradley  recognized  the 
world-wide  influence  of  Germany  in  the  dedica- 
tion of  his  book,  "Hohenzollern",  "To  the  de- 
scendants of  the  great  Germanic  Race  who,  in 
Europe  and  in  America  and  in  the  Far  East,  rule 
the  world." 

THE  CIVTL  WAR.  Though  the  War  of  In- 
dependence was  successful  and  the  constitution 
was  finally  adopted,  we  were  still  a  divided  na- 
tion. Slavery,  opposed  to  every  thought  and 
feeling  of  a  German,  was  the  bone  of  contention. 
To  Lincoln's  declaration:  "A  nation  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand,  we  cannot  continue 
half  slave  and  half  free,"  the  Lutheran  con- 
sciousness of  the  North  rallied.  The  German 
and  Scandinavian  Lutheran,  not  Catholic,  votes 
in  the  five  pivotal  States,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  elected  Lincoln  Pres- 
ident. The  influence  of  the  Germans  in  Louis- 
ville and  St.  Louis  preserved  Kentucky  and  Mis- 
souri to  the  Union.  The  first  regiment  to  reach 
Washington  April  16th,  1861,  at  Lincoln's  call 
for  the  defense  of  the  Union  were  Pennsvlvania 


27 


Germans  from  Berks  County.  Out  of  a  German 
population  of  1,118,402  in  1S60,  there  were  187,- 
858  German-born  soldiers  in  the  Northern  army. 
Afore  than  one-third  of  the  soldiers  from  Ohio 
were  Germans.  From  the  prairies  of  the  West 
the  German,  Swedish  and  Norwegian  Lutherans 
rallied  to  our  standard.  General  Herman  Haupt, 
one  of  the  first  graduates  of  West  Point,  was 
chief  of  the  bureau  of  United  States  Military 
Railroads.  He  discovered  Lee's  movements  and 
purposes,  and  moved  the  Union  Generals  to  pre- 
pare for  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  I.  N.  Wil- 
liams, Esq.,  of  New  York  City,  calls  him  "one 
of   the   greatest   characters   of   the    Civil   War." 

And  time  would  fail  us  to  name  the  brave  Gen- 
erals which  the  land  of  Luther  furnished  to  give 
success  to  our  army.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 
only  2.V2  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the  seced- 
ing states  were  foreign-born  and  few  of  these 
were  German.  All  during  the  protracted  strife 
there  was  at  least  one  Lutheran  Pastor  beyond  the 
Mason  and  Dixon  Line,  down' in  Tennessee,  pray- 
ing every  day  in  the  week  and  on  Sunday,  in  the 
German  language  for  the  success  of  the  Union 
cause. 

In  the  Mexican  war,  and  in  the  Spanish- Amer- 
ican, where  Protestant  civilization  was  constrain- 
ed to  decide  the  issue  by  the  stern  arbitrament  of 
the  sword,  our  Lutherans  marched  side  by  side 
with  the  Puritan  and  Cavalier.  At  Manilla  Bay, 
Santiago  Harbor  and  San  Juan  Hill,  the  un- 
heeded warnings  of  Luther  at  the  diet  of  Worms, 
uttered  in  the  presence  of  Charles  V.  of  Spain, 
went  into  effect  and  that  long  reign  of  persecu- 


Hon  and  tyranny  had  a  "disastrous  and  fatal  end- 
ing." 

THE  FUTURE  OF  OUR  CHURCH  AND 
NATION  JUDGED  BY  THE  PAST.  Our  Na- 
tion and  Church  from  feeble  beginnings  have 
reached  their  present  greatness  and  have  large 
possibilities  before  them.  Though  the  first  per- 
manent settlement  within  the  territory  of  the 
original  thirteen  colonies  was  made  in  1607,  in 
1790,  14  years  after  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, our  entire  possessions  were  843,799  square 
miles  and  our  population  3,929,214,  living  along 
a  small  fringe  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  Up  to  the 
year  190O  we  added  2,772,685  square  miles  to  our 
continental  territory  and  71,639,472  to  its  popu- 
lation, and  129,708  square  miles  and  8,664,383  of 
a  population  to  our  foreign  possessions.  Glad- 
stone has  said  that  we  have  "a  natural  base  for 
the  greatest  continuous .  empire  ever  established 
by  man." 

When  Henry  Clay  was  returning  from  Wash- 
ington to  his  home  in  Kentucky,  he  alighted  from 
his  carriage  near  the  summit  of  the  Allegheny 
mountains.  As  he  stooped  to  drink  of  the  spring 
purling  at  his  feet,  and  placing  his  ear  to  the 
ground  to  hear  the  sound  of  approaching  foot- 
steps, he  exclaimed,  "I  hear  the  tramp  of  mil- 
lions more  to  come."  They  have  come  from 
1790  to  1825  at  the  rate  of  12,000  per  year:  from 
1825  to  1850  at  the  rate  of  100,000,  from  1850  to 
1875  at  the  rate  of  260,000,  from  1875  to  1900  at 
the  rate  of  400,000,  from  1900  to  1903  at  the  rate 
of  665,000,  and  in  the  year  1904,  1,026,499  im- 
"migrants  came  to  our  shores.     They  have  settled 


29 


the  Mississippi  Valley,  clambered  over  the 
Rockies,  crossed  the  drylands,  scaled  the  Cas- 
cades and  established  themselves  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  When  we  compare  the  increase  of  i,- 
379,269  in  the  first  decade  of  our  census  with  the 
increase  of  21,253,303  in  the  last,  we  have  but  a 
faint  idea  of  the  mighty  population  which  will 
fill  our  land  by  the  middle  and  end  of  the  20th 
century.  From  six  cities  numbering  131,472  of 
a  population  in  1790  we  have  grown  to  545  in 
1900  numbering  24,992,199,  thus  adding  more 
than  24^  millions  to  our  urban  population.  And 
today  New  York  City  alone  contains  more  peo- 
ple than  did  the  entire  13  colonies  in  1776,  when 
we  became  an  independent  Nation. 

Our  internal  development  and  external  influ- 
ence among  the  nations  surpass  our  unexampled 
numerical  growth.  What  it  took  the  nations  of 
Europe  Milleniums  to  attain,  we  have  exceeded 
in  one  century.  In  the  last  40  years  we  have 
opened  to  cultivation  16,000  acres  of  land  daily 
and  more  than  two  millions  of  farms.  In  the 
last  100  years  we  have  built  more  than  500  cities 
and  equipped  them  with  all  the  appliances  and 
improvements  of  modern  civilization.  We  have 
become  both  the  leading  agricultural  and  manu- 
facturing nation  of  the  World.  Our  natural  re- 
sources and  inventive  genius  will  continue  to  keep 
us  in  the  forefront.  In  the  same  period  of  time 
we  have  established  more  institutions  of  higher 
education  and  added  to  their  endowments  more 
than  all  Europe  combined.  By  a  bloodless  vic- 
tory we  opened  the  ports  of  Japan  and  set  the 
Sunrise  Kingdom  on  its  upward  march.  Hawaii 
stretched  out  her  hands  for  our  protection  and 


30 


our  flag  was  carried  far  out  into  the  Pacific.  By 
the  fortunes  of  an  unselfish  war,  we  liberated 
Cuba  and  planted  our  humane  sway  at  the  gates 
of  the  East.  We  sprang  at  once  into  the  posi- 
tion of  the  most  dominant  power  of  the  age.  Our 
generous  policy  prevented  the  dismemberment 
of  China  and  the  exaction  of  large  indemnities 
during  the  Boxer  uprising.  Our  unselfishness 
enabled  President  Roosevelt  to  stop  the  fiercest 
of  wars  and  constrain  Russia  and  Japan,  in  this 
land  of  good  will,  to  come  to  peace.  For  force 
of  initiative,  for  comprehensive  grasp,  for  precis- 
ion and  rapidity  of  movement,  for  genius  of  com- 
bination and  invention,  for  intensity  of  action  and 
unflagging  endurance  and  for  intelligence  and 
generosity  among  our  people,  we  stand  without  a 
rival.  Marvelous  though  our  national  develop- 
ment has  been,  it  is  exceeded  by  the  commanding 
position  and  influence  we  have  attained  in  inter- 
national affairs. 

THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH.  The  growth 
of  our  Church  in  this  country  has  also  been  phe- 
nomenal. With  no  educational  institutions  for 
the  first  200  years  of  our  history  in  North 
America  we  have  established  within  the 
last  80  vears  38  Academies,  41  Colleges 
and  24  Theological  Seminaries.  From  22,- 
000  communicants  in  1800  we  have  grown  to 
1,844,339  m  1906;  far  more  wonderful  growth 
than  that  of  our  population.  Our  proportionate 
increase  has  been  larger  in  the  last  decades  than 
that  of  any  denomination,  Protestant  or  Catho- 
lic. President  Roosevelt,  in  his  address  in  the 
Luther  Memorial  Church,  in  Washington,  D.  C, 


3i 

January  29th,  1905,  after  referring  to  the  great 
power  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  country 
by  reason  of  the  number,  thrift,  and  intelligence 
of  its  members  said :  "It  is  destined  to  be  one  of 
the  two  or  three  greatest  Churches  and  most  im- 
portant National  Churches  in  the  United  States ; 
one  of  the  two  or  three  Churches  most  distinctly 
American,  among  the  forces  that  are  to  tell  for 
making  this  country  even  greater  in  the  future. 
Therefore  a  peculiar  load  of  responsibility  rests 
upon  the  members  of  this  Church."  And,  when 
the  members  of  this  Church  array  themselves  to 
realize  their  destiny  they  will  win  an  empire 
greater  than  that  which  stirred  the  conquering 
energy  of  Alexander. 

OUR  PRESENT  FIELD  AND  OPPORTU- 
NITIES. Whilst  the  denominations  about  us 
have  almost  attained  their  fulness,  and  must 
henceforth  grow,  if  grow  at  all,  more  slowly ;  we 
are  just  entering  on  the  period  of  our  increase, 
and  before  our  vision  stretches  fertile  soil  of 
wonderful  productiveness.  To  the  North  of  us 
lie  the  British  possessions,  with  such  provinces 
as  Quebec,  Ontario,  Manitoba,  Assiniboia,  Al- 
berta, Columbia  and  those  to  the  north,  into 
whose  cities  and  unoccupied  land  and  rich  mines 
40,000  Lutherans  from  the  fatherland  and  from 
the  States  are  annually  entering.  In  this  terri- 
tory, larger  than  the  United  States,  there  are  only 
two  English  Lutheran  Missionaries  and  those 
sent  within  the  last  year.  In  the  New  England 
States,  our  Lutherans  are  rehabilitating  the  worn- 
out  farms  and  crowding  the  cities,  whilst  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Puritans  are  marching  to  race 


32 

suicide  graves.  In  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  which  with  the  above  compose  the 
North  Atlantic  Division,  we  have  a  most  import- 
ant Mission  field,  and  one  which,  with  proper  cul- 
tivation, will  add  more  than  one  million  to  our 
communicant  list.  The  South  Atlantic  Divis- 
ion, the  District  of  Columbia,  Maryland,  West 
Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina  offer  to  us  a 
fruitful  field.  In  the  North  Central  Division  in 
which  lie  the  States  which  are  most  thoroughly 
Lutheran,  English  Lutheran  Missions  ought  to 
be  started  by  the  thousand.  The  South  Central 
and  Western  Divisions  of  states,  with  few  excep- 
tions, are  virgin  soil  to  our  English 
Lutheran  Church.  Alaska  and  the  isles 
of  the  sea,  beyond  a  single  .Missionary  in 
Porto  Rico,  we  have  not  yet  touched.  In 
the  two  cities  —  New  York  and  Chicago — 
alone  we  have  an  unchurched  Lutheran  popula- 
tion of  more  than  one  million  of  souls,  whilst  in 
each  of  these  cities,  we  have  today  a  larger  Com- 
municant membership  than  we  had  in  the  entire 
United  States  one  hundred  years  ago.  Could  we 
have  a  mission  force  and  means  sufficiently  ample 
to  occupy  the  above  and  the  the  other  543  cities, 
and  the  towns,  villages  and  rural  districts,  where 
the  unchurched  masses  ,  born  of  Lutheran  parents 
by  the  millions,  are  living  without  Christ  and  dy- 
ing without  hope,  we  could  stand  first  among  Pro- 
testant denominations  in  America  as  we  stand 
first  in  the  world.  Truly  this  is  a  great  field.  It  is 
paralizing  in  its  magnitude  and  in  our  impotence. 
We  must  enlarge  our  conceptions,  multiply  our 
resources  and  unite  our  forces.  We  must  get 
power  from  on  high.     The  Church  of  faith. must 


33 

believe  that  it  can  do  all  things  through  the 
strengthening  Christ  and  set  itself  to  meet  the 
conditions.  See  those  unlettered  fishermen  as 
thev  shake  the  world.  Behold  Paul  as  he  lifts 
up  his  voice  in  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  and 
Greece  and  is  determined  to  establish  the  Church 
in  Rome,  the  Capital  of  the  World.  Mark 
Luther  as  he  challenges  the  world  to  gainsay  the 
truth  of  his  95  Theses  and  hurls  his  thunderbolts 
at  Kings  and  Popes.  Follow  Muhlenberg  as  he. 
crosses  the  ocean  with  the  motto  "Ecclesia  Plan- 
tanda"  and  establishes  "an  Evangelical  Ministeri- 
um"  whose  blessed  ministrations  shall  extend  to 
all  people  "in  North  America.''  The  time  has 
come  for  a  return  to  the  spirit  of  the  fathers,  to 
aggression  against  our  own  indifference  and  the 
forces  of  evil*.  The  time  has  come  for  all  Luther- 
ans to  sacrifice  preference  for  duty  and  unite  as 
Brethren  to  save  the  souls  for  which  we  are  re- 
sponsible. 

HOW  WrE  CAN  SUCCEED.  To  accomplish 
this  work  on  this  vast  territory,  there  must  be 
united  and  concerted  action.  There  must  be  in- 
tense devotion,  wise  and  experienced  generalship, 
thorough  organization  of  every  department  and 
harmonious  co-operation  of  every  portion  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  concerned.  Without  such  an 
arrangement  neither  the  General  bodies  nor  the 
Independent  Synods,  nor  all  of  them,  can  success- 
fully do  the  Mission  work  of  our  beloved  Church. 
The  Synodical  Conference  can  teach  how  to  se- 
cure a  sufficient  native  [Ministry;  the- General 
Synod  how  to  secure  the  means  for  Home  Mis- 
sions and  Church  Extension  for  our  large  cities ; 
and  the  United  Norwegian  Church  and  the  Au- 


34 

gustana  Synod  how  to  utilize  the  laity,  but  neith- 
er nor  all  of  them  in  their  present  isolation  and 
estrangement,  can  garner  the  great  harvest  which 
God  has  ripened  for  our  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church.  As  well  attempt  to  harvest  the  wheat 
fields  of  North  America  with  opposing  harvest- 
ers and  colliding  implements. 

The  whole  Church  must  adapt  herself  to  pres- 
ent conditions.  She  must  join  with  her  charac- 
teristic harmlessness  of  the  dove  the  wisdom 
of  the  serpent.  She  must  equip  her  Pastors  and 
Missionaries  to  meet  the  questions  of  the  day  and 
adjust  her  methods  to  the  conditions  of  the  hour. 
The  rural  and  semi-rural  conditions  of  ioo  years 
ago  have  become  urban  and  metropolitan,  and 
these,  in  turn,  complex.  To  put  the  destiny  of 
the  great  soul-saving,  the  Missionary  work,  into 
the  hands  of  men  with  no  special  preparation  and 
qualification  is  more  culpable  than  to  place  an 
engine  hauling  thousands  of  lives  into  the  charge 
of  a  man  void  of  understanding.  And  to  con- 
duct local  and  general  Missions  by  separate  and 
uncommunicating  Boards  is  like  running  local 
and  general  trains  of  a  railroad  by  separate  and 
uncommunicating  dispatchers — wreck  and  block- 
ades innumerable.  But  the  free  Conferences  are 
the  harbingers  of  a  better  state  of  affairs  for  the 
Church  in  general  and  the  unification  agitation 
for  the  General  Council  in  particular. 

She  must  be  thoroughly  American.  She  dare 
not  cease  to  be.  thoroughly  Lutheran,  and  thus 
lose  her  value  as  an  evangelizing  force  ;  but  she 
must  be  to  America  what  Luther  was  to  Ger- 
many. She  cannot  neglect  to  unfold  her  precious 
heritage  to  the  immigrant  in  the  language  beyond 


35 

the  sea,  but  she  must  preach  to  his  more  numer- 
ous descendants  and  to  the  vast  majority  of  our 
population  in  the  language  of  this  land.  We 
•rejoice  that,  in  the  days  of  the  Reformation, 
Lutherans  were  the  first  Missionaries  and  Mar- 
tyrs to  the  truth  in  England.  We  justly  censure 
Henry  VIII.  who,  by  chicanery,  then  prevented 
our  Church  from  adding  the  English,  the  most 
widely  spoken  language  of  civilization,  to  her 
numerous  tongues.  But  we  cannot  too  highly 
laud  and  magnify  the  providence  of  God  by 
which  in  this  age  and  in  this  land  of  greater  pos- 
sibilities, that  loss  has  been,  regained.  We  may 
be  naturalized  but  we  must  become  native.  That 
alone  is  permanent  in  our  growth  which  is  both 
Lutheran  and  American,  and  all  else  is  foreign 
and  transitory.  You  might  as  well  attempt  to 
build  up  an  American  National  Church  in  Ger- 
many, Sweden  or  Norway  as  to  attempt  a  Ger- 
man, Swedish  or  Norwegian  National  Church  in 
America. 

She  must  have  a  realizing  sense  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  her  presence  in  and  opportunity  through 
America.  We  would  not  deprecate  the  import- 
ance of  the  Lutheran  lands  and  their  populations 
in  the  Old  World ;  and  for  that  very  reason  we 
dare  not  underestimate  this.  They  were  that 
America  might  be.  "Westward  the  Star  of  Em- 
pire wends  its  way."  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  emphat- 
ically and  truthfully  says :  "He  does  most  to 
Christianize  the  world  and  to  hasten  the  coming 
of  the  Kingdom  who  does  most  to  make  thor- 
oughly Christian  the  United  States.  I  do  not 
imagine  that  an  Anglo  Saxon  is  any  dearer  to 
God  than  a  Mongolian  or  an  African.    My  plea  is 


36 

hot,  Save  America  for  America's  sake,  but,  save 
America  for  the  World's  sake."  John  Fiske  says, 
"The  World's  center  of  gravity  has  been  shifted 
from  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Rhine  to  the  At- 
lantic and  the  Mississippi,  from  the  men  who 
spoke  Latin  to  the  men  who  speak  English." 
Emerson's  observation  is  well  known :  "We  live 
in  a  new  and  exceptional  age.  America  is  an- 
other same  for  opportunity.  Our  whole  history 
appears  like  another  effort  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence in  behalf  of  the  human  race."  Prof. 
Phelps  writes,  "The  nations  whose  conversion 
is  the  most  pressing  necessity  of  the  world  today 
are  the  Occidental  nations."  Matthew  Arnold 
says,  "America  holds  the  future."  Prof.  Park, 
"If  America  fail  the  world  will  fail."  Alexan- 
der Hamilton  declared :  "It  is  ours  to  be  either 
the  grave  in  which  the  hopes  of  the  world  will  be 
entombed :  or  the  pillar  of  cloud  that  shall  pilot 
the  race  onward  to  its  milennial  glory.  Let  us 
not  forget  our  immortal  trust."  Prof.  Hoppin 
claims  that  "America  Christianized  means  the 
world  Christianized."  This  land  furnishes  the 
key  for  the  world's  evangelization,  and  the  Luth- 
erans of  the  world  look  to  the  Lutherans  of  Amer- 
ica for  encouragement  and  leadership.  The  rep- 
resentative of  the  Iowa  Synod,  at  the  recent  con- 
vention of  the  General  Council,  stated  that  the 
intelligent  Lutherans  of  Germany  realize  that  the 
hopes  of  Ltitheranism  are  wrapped  up  with  the 
hopes  of  our  Church  in  America.  If  we  trifle 
away  our  heritage  and  lose  our  opportunity  here, 
we  wrong  not  only  the  illustrious  dead,  but  we 
vacate  the  citadel  and  rallying  centre  of  Luther- 
anisiiL     We  have  a  Mission  both  national  and  in- 


37 

ternational.  We  expect  the  Pan-Lutheran  Con- 
vention to  prepare  the  way  for  a  Pan-Lutheran 
Confederation  and  world-wide  activity.  Of  this 
we  are  convinced.  As  goes  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  America,  so  goes  the  Lutheran  Church  in  the 
world.     And  as  goes  America  so  goes  the  world. 

I  behold  a  vision.  Before  me  stands  America. 
"The  gem  of  the  ocean,  the  land  of  the  brave  and 
the  free."  Its  Christian  civilization  and  freedom 
are  the  offspring  of  the  Reformation.  Every 
step  in  its  advancement  has  been  consecrated  by 
the  blood  of  our  Lutheran  forefathers.  On  every 
page  of  its  wonderful  history  is  the  handwriting 
of  God.  Health  and  vigor  in  its  air,  fertility  in 
its  soil  and  wealth  in  its  mines.  A  land  of  plen- 
ty and  comfort,  stretching  between  the  two 
oceans,  the  highway  of  the  world's  commerce  and 
prosperity  and  the  zone  of  power — enjoying  the 
respect  and  admiration  of  earth's  population  and 
wielding  an  influence  beyond  that  of  any  Na- 
tion. As  I  gaze,  I  hear  a  voice  from  heaven,  it 
is  the  voice  of  my  God  saying:  "Righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  peo- 
pie/' 

I  turn  to  the  religious  forces  for  help.  Here 
is  Romanism  numerically  strong,  spiritually 
weak  ;  much  worldly  wisdom,  little  from  above ; 
scheming  for  influence  among  men  to  the  loss 
of  power  with  God.  Here  are  the  denominations 
still  busy  and  zealous,  cutting  loose  from  the  his- 
torical past  and  drifting  to  an  unknown  future. 
Here  is  the  great  Mother  Church  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, united  on  the  faith  confessed  at  Augsburg 
and  divided  on  active  work  and  practical  inter- 
ests.    In  the  centre  stands  the  General   Council 


38 

with  its  English,  German  and  Swedish  wings, 
too  harmonious  in  doctrine  to  separate  and  too 
fearful  and  unconscious  of  their  interests  to  con- 
centrate. 

As  T  gaze  upon  these  religious  forces,  I  am 
confronted  with  the  question,  Can  they  promote 
that  righteousness  which  will  exalt  this  continent 
and  check  the  sin  which  disgraces  and  destroys 
a  people?  Rome  has  not  succeeded  in  Italy,  in 
Spain,  in  France,  in  Cuba  and  the  Philippines; 
and  what  hope  could  we  have  that  she  could  suc- 
ceed here?  The  denominations  have  exalted 
England,  and  her  dominions  extend  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  but  it  was  because  they  had  convic- 
tions and  stood  with  more  or  less  admixture  of 
error  upon  the  principles  confessed  at  and  de- 
rived from  Augsburg.  Gustav  Freitag  says :  "All 
confessions  have  reason  to  trace  back  to  Luther 
all  that  which  today  is  making  their  faith  soul- 
inspiring  and  a  blessing  for  their  life  in  the 
world.''  But  a  creedless  Protestantism 
of  recent  origin  and  rapid  growth,  is  a 
mere  negation,  bearing  no  witness,  confessing 
no  truth  and  without  vitality.  Here  is  the  Luth« 
eran  Church,  still  true  to  its  faith,  with  her  ener- 
gies dormant  and  her  forces  disorganized  and  un- 
trained. She  has  Conviction  but  she  has  not 
seized  her  opportunity.  She  has  the  faith,  the 
truth  which  America  needs  and  longs  for,  but 
she  must  make  that  faith  a  living  reality  in  the 
lives  of  the  Masses  by  her  work — her  Mission 
work.  Talmage  said :  "Germany's  religion  has 
much  to  do  with  her  prosperity.  Luther  still 
stands  with  Thble  in  his  hands,  with  lips  of  mar- 


39 

blc  or  of  bronze,  still  preaching  the  Gospel  with 
which  he  shook  the  earth,  and  preaching  a  re- 
ligious emancipation  which  will  yet  grant  all  na- 
tions a  right  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way." 
The  call  of  this  20th  century  comes  with  tremen- 
dous force  to  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 
It  is  no  idle  sign  that  the  President  of  these 
United  States,  January  29th,  1905,  noting  "the 
forces  of  evil"  "strong  and  mighty  in  this  centu- 
ry and  in  this  country"  turns  to  the  Lutheran 
Church,  asserts  its  great  load  of  responsibility, 
and  asks  it  to  assume  "an  attitude  of  generous 
rivalry  in  the  effort  to  see  how  the  most  good 
can  be  done  to  our  people  as  a  whole".  And  we 
will  hear  other  voices,  in  increasing  number  and 
volume,  calling,  calling,  calling,  and  will  not  be 
silenced  until  this  Evangelical  Lutheran  force 
shall  become  conscious  of  its  destiny  and  put  on 
its  strength.  I  am  convinced  that  the  Church  of 
the  pure  faith  will  arise  and  that  there  will  be  a 
religious  awakening  whose  influence  will  be  felt 
throughout  America  and  the  world.  Young 
men  will  flock  to  her  Academies,  Colleges  and 
Theological  Seminaries  crying  "Here  am  I,  send 
me."  All  the  past  history  will  repeat  itself  on  a 
grander  scale.  There  will  be  enthusiasm  like 
that  in  the  days  of  Luther !  There  will  be  a  re- 
turn to  the  Evangelical  faith,  like  the  Los  Von 
Rom  movement  in  Austria,  and  the  Church  will 
rejoice  over  the  recovery  of  the  losses  she  once 
mourned.  Thousands,  weary  of  error,  half- 
truths  and  doubt  will  flock  to  her  altars  and 
crowd  her  sanctuaries. 

When  James  Russell  Lowell  and  his  friend,  in 
the  .year   1871,   were   returning   from  a   visit  to 


40 

Rome,  they  crossed  the  Alps.  As  they  reached 
the  summit  and  were  about  to  descend  on  the 
farther  side,  Lowell  looked  back  upon  the  "city 
which  once  stood  upon  her  seven  hills  and  from 
her  throne  of  beauty  ruled  the  world ;"  and  as 
the  achievements  of  her  Caesars,  her  monuments 
and  ruins  passed  before  his  mind,  he  exclaimed: 
'''Glories  of  the  past,  I  salute  you."  His  friend 
turned  to  the  North  and  looking  toward  a  united 
Germany,  the  home  of  Luther,  the  cradle  of  the 
Reformation,  the  land  of  learning,  art  and  sci- 
ence, and  catching  visions  of  her  rising  great- 
ness, exclaimed,  "Glories  of  the  future,  I  salute 
you."  Thus  we  think  of  the  Venezuelian  colony 
of  1529,  of  the  French  Martyrs  of  1565,  of  our 
pesecuted  Holland  Brethren  of  1623,  of  the 
Swedes  of  1637,  and  of  our  Germans  of  Saltz- 
burg  and  other  parts  of  Germany,  of  Muhlen- 
berg and  his  co-laborers,  of  Weiser  and  of  the 
long  line  of  Lutheran  Patriots,  of  our  later  Scan- 
dinavians and  brethren  from  every  country  of 
Europe,  and  of  what  they  achieved,  and  we  may 
exclaim  in  the  language  of  Lowell,  "Glories  of 
the  past,  1  salute  you."  But  when  we  turn  to 
the  position  which  our  Church  has  attained  from 
those  feeble  beginnings  and  behold  the  possibili- 
ties opened  to  a  united  and  aggressive  Lutheran 
Church  in  this,  the  greatest  and  best  of  all  Na- 
tion's, the  most  genial  and  productive  soil  for  her 
labors  and  increase,  we  devoutly  and  joyfully  ex- 
claim in  the  words  of  Lowell's  friend :  "Glories 
of  the  future,  I  salute  you." '  And  inscribing  on 
our  banners  as  our  watchword  Muhlenberg's 
motto :  Ecclesia  Plantanda,  these  glories  will  be 
ours  and  through  us  be  the  glories  of  God. 


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